For event organisers
Professional coffee service for festivals, shows and public events
Gallop & Grind attends selected festivals, sporting events, community gatherings, markets and public shows.
Our converted horsebox is attractive, compact and equipped for professional speciality coffee service.
To assess whether an event is commercially and operationally suitable, we ask for the date, location, opening times, expected attendance, competing hot-drink provision and proposed pitch arrangement.
Events we attend
We take on a limited number of public dates each season, so we look at each invitation on its own terms rather than filling a calendar.
- Festivals
- Music, food and family festivals where mornings are steady and the afternoon builds in waves.
- Sporting events
- Race days, point-to-points, equestrian fixtures, club tournaments and school sports days.
- County and country shows
- Agricultural, game and country shows with a long single-day trading window.
- Markets
- Farmers' markets, artisan markets and regular weekend market pitches.
- Community gatherings
- Village fetes, church and charity days, open gardens and town events.
- School and club events
- Summer fairs, fundraising days, parents' mornings and club open days.
We are a single horsebox with one service hatch, so very large footfall with no other hot-drink provision, sites we cannot tow onto, and events where trading hours are long but attendance is thin are usually a poor fit — for you as much as for us. We would rather say so early than under-serve your visitors.
Coffee and menu
Visitors notice the difference between event coffee and good coffee, and they tell the organiser about both.
- Beans
- We serve beans roasted by Fire & Flow, a small roastery close to us, rather than a commodity catering blend.
- Machine
- Drinks are pulled on an Astoria lever machine and ground to order, so espresso quality holds through a busy service rather than drifting.
- Range
- Espresso-based drinks, filter-style options, tea, hot chocolate, decaf and alternative milks, so nobody in a queue is left without something to order.
Off-grid setup and venue access
We arrive self-contained, so the pitch you allocate does not need to be a serviced one.
- Power
- The horsebox carries its own power. No generator hire, no hook-up and no draw on the site's supply.
- Water
- We carry our own water for service, so a standpipe on the pitch is helpful but not a condition of trading.
Service capability
One horsebox, one hatch. Knowing honestly what that serves is the difference between a good pitch and a queue your visitors complain about.
- Peak coverage
- Public events run in surges rather than evenly. We ask for your programme so stock and staffing are set against the gaps between fixtures, acts or rings, not spread flat across the day.
Documentation, waste and staffing
What your trader vetting will ask for. Items still being confirmed are marked rather than estimated, and we will not claim a certificate we cannot produce.
Documentation
- Public liability insurance
- £10 million public liability cover. The certificate is issued to organisers with the rest of the pitch paperwork.
- Food hygiene
- 5-star Food Hygiene Rating, the highest rating awarded. The certificate is supplied on request.
Waste and staffing
- On-site conduct
- We work to the site rules you give us: arrival slots, vehicle movement restrictions, trading hours and radio contact with the ground team.
Travel
- Where we travel from
- We are based in Bulford, Wiltshire, towing to events across the surrounding counties. Distance is rarely the deciding factor — trading hours and attendance usually matter more.
- Travel and distance
- Standard pricing covers events within 30 miles of Bulford. We regularly travel further for public events where the trading hours and attendance justify it — tell us where you are and we will be straight with you about whether it works.
Trading model
Four arrangements we are happy to talk through. Pitch fees and revenue share are both on the table.
- Pitch fee
- A fixed fee paid to the organiser for the pitch, with visitors buying their own drinks.
- Revenue share
- A share of takings rather than a fixed fee, which spreads the risk when attendance is hard to predict.
- Organiser-funded service
- You fund drinks for visitors, crew or competitors up to an agreed number, and no money changes hands at the hatch.
- Tokens or vouchers
- Tokens issued to crew, volunteers or ticket holders, redeemed at the hatch and invoiced afterwards.
Which model works depends on your attendance, trading hours and what else is on site, so we discuss it case by case rather than publishing a rate. We will give you a clear figure in writing before anything is agreed, and we would rather decline politely than accept a pitch that cannot work for either of us.
What to send with your invitation
With these details we can usually give you a straight answer within a few days, rather than a chain of emails. If an event is not right for us we will say so plainly and, where we can, suggest what would suit you better.
- 01Event name, date and location
- 02Opening and trading times, including build and breakdown
- 03Expected attendance, and how confident that figure is
- 04Other hot-drink provision already booked or on site
- 05Proposed pitch position and approximate size
- 06Ground type and vehicle access to the pitch
- 07Whether power and water are available (we do not need either)
- 08Trading model you have in mind, and any pitch fee expectation
- 09Documentation you require from traders, and by when
Organiser questions
- Do you need electricity or water?
- No. The horsebox is fully self-sufficient — it carries its own power and water, so no generator or site hook-up is required.
- How far do you travel?
- We are based in Bulford, Wiltshire, and our standard pricing covers events within 30 miles of base — which takes in most of Wiltshire and a good part of Hampshire. We do travel further for events that suit us, and any travel cost is set out in your quote before you commit to anything.
- Can guests purchase their own drinks?
- Yes. Depending on the booking, guests can buy their own drinks, the organiser can host the bar, or the two can be combined — for example a hosted first hour followed by guest purchases.
- Do you pay a pitch fee or work on revenue share?
- Both are possible, along with organiser-funded service and token schemes. Which one suits depends on your attendance, trading hours and what else is on site, so we agree it in writing case by case rather than publishing a rate.
- What documentation can you supply to an event organiser?
- We hold £10 million public liability insurance and a 5-star food hygiene rating, and we can send certificates for both on request. Organisers who need a risk assessment, method statement or gas and electrical certification should ask at enquiry stage and we will confirm what we can provide and by when.
- Do you require exclusivity on hot drinks?
- No. We ask what other hot-drink provision is booked so we can both judge whether a pitch is viable, and so your visitors are not over-served. If exclusivity is offered we will discuss what it means for the trading terms.
- What happens if the event is cancelled?
- Our standard cancellation schedule is set out in full on the booking terms page: the 25% deposit is retained on cancellations more than 60 days out, with a rising proportion of the total due closer to the date. Where an event is postponed rather than cancelled we will always try to move the booking to a new date instead.
Read next
- Menu and quality
What visitors will actually be handed at the hatch.
- Company and client events
Closed-audience bookings rather than public trading.
- Organiser FAQs
Pitch, documentation, exclusivity and cancellation.
Thinking of inviting us?
Send us the outline of your event and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right trader for it. If we are, we will follow up with pitch, trading and documentation detail.
Organisers who need our pitch, documentation and trading detail in one place can request the organiser information pack with their enquiry.